"Understood!"
Several soldiers responded, and then the city gate was closed again.
"You're saying what? Zhou Ding?"
Upon hearing the news, Han Mo shivered all over.
How could this be possible?
"County Lieutenant Lü has already taken men to pursue him!"
"I know, you may go now!"
After sending the messenger away, Han Mo was no longer in the mood for sleep.
Zhou Ding's sudden departure sent a cold sweat down Han Mo's spine.
How could it possibly be Zhou Ding?
In fact, Han Mo wasn't entirely to blame. Not only had he not expected it, but Zhou Ding himself hadn't either.
Time returned to a few hours earlier. The three of them were secretly plotting how to contact Li Mao'er.
Just as Han Mo had predicted, Zhang Huai and Zhou Ding were still planning to have Li Chong make a trip to Lijiazhuang.
Shortly after, someone delivered a letter from Li Mao'er to Zhang Huai.
Having suffered the loss of over five hundred men and a trusted subordinate, how could Li Mao'er let this go?
Therefore, in his letter, he directly requested Zhang Huai and Zhou Ding to personally go to Lijiazhuang to explain themselves.
Upon seeing this letter, Li Chong secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Regardless of whether Zhou Ding and Zhang Huai were willing or not, the situation had now reached a point where they could no longer make their own decisions.
Of course, the two of them were not foolish. If they both went to Lijiazhuang together, what if something happened? They would be completely trapped.
Therefore, after Zhang Huai's painstaking "persuasion," Zhou Ding, the county assistant, "unhesitatingly" accepted the mission to go to Lijiazhuang.
To avoid attracting attention, Zhou Ding waited until deep into the night before quietly leaving the city with his trusted men.
"Go and fetch Lord Wu!"
Frantically putting on his clothes and pacing around his bedroom, Han Mo still called out to Xu Fengnian outside the door.
"My lord, it's already the fourth watch..."
"Just go as I told you, stop with the nonsense!"
Han Mo shouted impatiently. Seeing Han Mo starting to lose his temper, Xu Fengnian no longer dared to argue. He responded and turned to leave.
In less than half an hour, Wu Jie had arrived at Han Mo's study.
"Did something happen?"
Seeing Han Mo's furrowed brow, Wu Jie asked softly.
"If we strike first and raid Lijiazhuang now, what are your chances of victory?"
Han Mo took a deep breath and looked at Wu Jie seriously.
"Now?"
Wu Jie was startled.
He had only been in charge of the auxiliary troops of Neihuang County for a few days. Let alone commanding them in battle at this moment, he didn't even recognize all the subordinate officers.
Leading troops to raid Lijiazhuang at this time was no different from seeking death!
"That's right, right now! My judgment was a bit off. Zhou Ding has already left the city overnight to contact Li Mao'er. According to my estimation, if they settle the terms, they should attack by the night after tomorrow at the latest! If we want to raid, tonight is the last chance!"
After listening to Han Mo, Wu Jie fell silent again.
Over the past few days, he had gained a general understanding of the men under his command.
Excluding those on the payroll who didn't exist, and those who were too old, weak, or sick to fight, all the auxiliary troops and militia in Neihuang County, along with the archers, who could be put to use would not exceed six hundred men.
Including the hundred men he brought, that made a grand total of only seven hundred men.
Moreover, those six hundred men couldn't even muster basic equipment at this moment.
Many of them held swords that had already rusted into pieces. The thought of relying on them to achieve victory against a larger force made even the daring Wu Jie's legs tremble a little.
"If we attack proactively at this moment, I'm afraid our chances of victory are less than thirty percent..."
Wu Jie hesitated for a moment before speaking.
Hearing this, Han Mo let out a wry smile. It was much as he had anticipated.
"If three thousand bandits attack the city, can these few hundred men hold out for three days?"
"My lord, if you could give me another ten days, forget three days, even a month, we could probably hold out, but now..."
Wu Jie stopped speaking here. Even Han Mo understood what he meant.
"Since we can't defend, we can only attack. Everything else will be up to fate. In about half an hour, we should have news. Lü Ying has already taken men to pursue. If he can bring Zhou Ding back, everything will be fine. If he can't, I'm afraid we'll have to fight with our backs to the wall!"
Han Mo took a deep breath and made up his mind.
Since they definitely couldn't defend, it was better to fight for survival than to wait for death.
After all, they weren't prepared, and the bandits certainly wouldn't be. It was likely that even if Li Mao'er were given ten heads, he wouldn't have imagined that Han Mo would dare to lead his few hundred men to raid his stronghold at this time.
Besides, it was currently night, and Han Mo still had thirty true elites, a hundred well-equipped imperial guards, and two true "Children of Destiny" level individuals.
Wu Jie and Wu Lin, they were both destined to become two of the Seven Kings of the Southern Song Dynasty.
No matter what, they wouldn't die in such a small ditch, would they?
"Then I'll have people prepare!"
Wu Jie hesitated for a moment before bowing to Han Mo again.
As Han Mo had said, if the man really wasn't caught, then tonight was indeed their last chance.
Han Mo remained silent, closing his eyes again, and nodding without a sound.
Waiting was always agonizing. This half-hour felt like an eternity to Han Mo. Listening to the sound of sand falling in the hourglass, Han Mo's mind raced.
"My lord, County Lieutenant Lü is back!"
"Please let him in!"
"Your subordinate Lü Ying pays his respects to my lord!"
"Was the man caught?"
Looking at the sweat-soaked Lü Ying, Han Mo couldn't be bothered with polite pleasantries and asked directly.
"Your subordinate, your subordinate has failed to live up to expectations..."
Lü Ying knelt on one knee, somewhat ashamed.
Failure...
Han Mo closed his eyes in pain. He had been too careless!
"General Wu, it seems we can only fight with our backs to the wall tonight!"
"Fight with our backs to the wall?"
Hearing this phrase, Lü Ying shivered all over. No way!
Is this a joke?